Other names

Biography

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) was an Italian painter. He began working as an apprentice in the workshop of Simone Peterzano in Milan and in 1592 moved to Rome, where he began to make a name for himself thanks to the support of important patrons, such as Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, for whom he produced important works such as The Head of Medusa. In addition, he joined other painters, such as the Knight of Arpino, to sell his paintings. From 1598 onwards his palette became darker and, a year later, the cardinal commissioned another work from him: the paintings of the Contarelli chapel, where the Vocation of St. Matthew stands out. Subsequently, he received other commissions from prominent figures such as the Mattei brothers or Giustiniani. After killing Ranuccio Tomassoni in 1606, he fled to Naples, Malta and Sicily, producing some of his most important works in exile. He died in 1610 in Porto Ercole while trying to return to Rome in search of a papal pardon. Numerous works by Caravaggio are scattered in museums and institutions. See, by way of example, the following: Death of the Virgin (Louvre Museum, Paris), Flagellation (Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples) or Salome with the Baptist's Head (Royal Palace, Madrid).

Bibliography

• GUTTUSO, Renato (1968): La obra pictórica completa de Caravaggio, Noguer, Barcelona.
• LANGDON, Helen (2002): Caravaggio, Edhasa, Barcelona.
• NICOLSON, Benedict (1974): "Caravaggio and the Caravaggesques: Some Recent Research", vol. CXVI, nº octubre, en The Burlington Magazine.
• PÉREZ SÁNCHEZ, Alfonso E. (1985): "La pintura napolitana del Seicento y España", en PÉREZ SÁNCHEZ, A. E. (com.), Pintura napolitana. De Caravaggio a Giordano, Madrid.